Maximus MAX-003U review: best overall dishwasher

The Maximus MAX-003U is our Best Overall dishwasher: 6 place settings, UV sterilization, 47 dB, and 6.5 liters per cycle, for around ₱20,000 as of August 12, 2026.

Why does it win?

Because it is the only dishwasher here that tells you everything and then performs well on all of it.

Maximus publishes the noise level (47 dB), the energy use (0.61 kWh), the water use (6.5L) and the exact dimensions. Several rivals at ₱25,000 and up publish none of those. In a category most Filipino buyers are entering for the first time, being able to check what a machine costs to run before you buy it is worth real money.

And the numbers are good. 47 dB is the quietest published figure of any tabletop model here, matching the full-size MAX-D005US, and 6.5 liters is less water than you would use washing the same load under a running tap.

The evidence backs it up too: 5.0 from 48 raters with 168 sold, the strongest feedback in the category.

How well does it wash?

The 7 programs are the reason it works across a real Filipino kitchen: Intensive, Universal, Eco, Glass, 90min, Rapid and Self-Cleaning.

That range matters more than it sounds. Eco and Rapid are for lightly soiled plates. A kawali that fried tuyo or a pot that held adobo needs Intensive, where the built-in water heater brings the water up to a temperature no sink tap reaches. Buyers who complain that dishwashers cannot handle greasy cooking are usually running everything on Eco.

The built-in water softener is a quiet plus, protecting the heating element from scale.

You still scrape plates before loading. There is no food grinder in this class, and the filter catches whatever you leave on.

What is it like to live with?

Small, for a dishwasher. At 550 x 514 x 438 mm it takes roughly the footprint of a large microwave, and the white body with its wood-trim handle looks less like an appliance parked on the counter than most.

Two practical points. It needs plumbing: a cold inlet and a drain. And the counter space is permanent, which in a small Filipino kitchen is the real cost of ownership, not the electricity.

The 1 to 24 hour delay start is more useful than it sounds. Set it to run overnight and you wake to clean, dry, sterilized dishes without the noise during dinner.

Is it sulit?

Around ₱20,000 as of August 12, 2026. Check the latest price on Shopee.

At 0.61 kWh and 6.5 liters a cycle, running it daily costs only a few pesos a day in power and less water than hand washing. If it lasts five years, which is a fair expectation for a dishwasher from the PH market leader in the category, that is about ₱333 a month.

The honest way to frame it: this machine buys back roughly 20 minutes every evening. Over five years that is several hundred hours. Whether that is sulit depends entirely on how much you value the time, because the water and electricity savings alone will not repay ₱20,000.

Who should buy it

Buy this if you cook daily for three or four people, you have counter space and a water connection, and you want a first dishwasher that publishes exactly what it does. It is the right choice for most Filipino households entering this category, and the one we would recommend without hesitation.

Skip it if you rent or cannot plumb it in, where the tank-fill Fabriano is the answer. Skip it too if you are feeding five or more nightly, where running it twice defeats the point.

See how it ranks against the rest in our best dishwashers in the Philippines roundup, or work out plumbing and place settings first in our dishwasher buying guide.

Alternatives to consider

Renting, or no spare water connection? The Fabriano FDW66GBL has a 5-liter built-in tank and needs no plumbing at all, though it holds only 4 place settings. Feeding a bigger family in one load? The Maximus MAX-D002MS is a 45cm freestanding unit with 9 place settings and an A++ rating.